October 5, 2007 -- Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum's stepson frantically called the Phoenix airport five minutes after his wife was arrested -- pleading with operators to treat her "with kid gloves" because she was "suicidal" and suffering from a "deep depression," according to a bombshell report released yesterday.
Noah Gotbaum first called police at 2:54 p.m. last Friday -- five minutes after three officers arrested his wife -- begging the dispatcher to get through to cops so he could tell them about her mental state, the Phoenix Police Department admitted in its 87-page report.
"Unfortunately, [the police are] still doing the investigation . . . so where can I have them give you a call? the operator asked. "It's unfortunate we're going to have to wait until they give you a call."
Gotbaum, who had been on the phone with his wife, Carole Ann, 45, when she had a meltdown after showing up late at the gate for her flight to Tucson, then told the operator his wife is "suicidal" and an alcoholic.
"She is also in a deep depression and the police have to understand that they're not dealing with someone who's just been drinking on a flight," he added.
Carole Ann Gotbaum, 45, who died in police custody, had been on her way to an alcohol-rehab center in Tucson when she went berserk in Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport.
While Noah Gotbaum was on the phone from New York, his wife was being dragged through the airport and placed in a holding cell, according to a video released yesterday by Phoenix authorities.
